9 Hopes for the Future, The Bijuu Dolls
by Baron von Nobody
Summary: The age of the shinobi has ended. The age of man has ended. Or has it? Now, the hope of humanity rests in the hands of nine dolls. Nine Bijuu Dolls. Warning: AU, Character Death, OOCness. Slight X-over of Matrix and Terminator.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or 9. Let the story begin.

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**Prologue**

This was not his intention when he began the organization Akatsuki; he wished to bring peace to this chaotic world. When he found out about Madara's plan, he faced Madara, and was able to put a stop to Madara's intentions, because after all, he had the eyes of the creator, and was one of the few immune to Madara's Mangekyō Sharingan eyes. When his organization had captured all nine of the Jinchuuriki, including the Hokage, Naruto Uzamaki Namikaze, and sealed all of the Bijuu, he succeeded in creating a Peace-Maker Jutsu, a Jutsu everyone was afraid of, and was forced into peace.

When the Hokage died from the extraction of the Kyuubi from his body, the elemental nations had met with dark and violent times. If a village was against the peace Nagato had offered, he would simply erase them from existence with the Peace-Maker Jutsu.

What he didn't count on, was man's thriving will for freedom, and the aspiration to overcome his powerful grip. What Nagato didn't see was the creation of a being that lacked a heart, a soul. What Nagato didn't see was the creation of man's supposed retaliation of his ruling of peace, and their imminent destruction. What Nagato didn't see coming was the creation of 'The Machine' and his own helping hand in the destruction and imprisonment of humanity, and the death of thousands.

Everyone was trapped under his iron thumb. But a small resistance group began to work on a way to oppose Nagato. The 'Machine,' they called it, for that was what it was. The main component that helped with its creation was that the Machine was made with chakra absorbing armor, and ran on the power of the Stone of Gelel, and with it, created armies of machines similar to it to fight against the Red Dawn group, Akatsuki. It was programmed to bring peace by ridding the world of evil.

It was man's last salvation against Nagato, but when he tried to use the Jutsu against it, the Machine was not destroyed, but malfunctioned, and soon, corrupted. As an act to shut it down, Nagato released the full power of the Jutsu to destroy the Stone of Gelel, but at the same time, destroyed himself. Without the stone, the Machine adapted, using the sun as its source of power, and began to wipe the world clean of the human race, now seeing man as the source of evil, believing that genocide was the way to peace.

In retaliation of the 'Machine', the Human race used a Jutsu to blot out the sun. Without the sun, the 'Machine' adapted again, this time using the chakra absorbing armor to convert chakra into energy. The human bodies generates more bio electricity then a 120 volt battery, add that to the human chakra network, could potentially power any machine for a long while. Now, instead of killing off the human race, it proceeded with capturing them, to use as a battery, and began integrating the human life forms into its components, placing the living into a state of hibernation, preserving them, and harvesting them.

This was not Nagato's intention when he began the organization Akatsuki; he wished to bring peace to this chaotic world, only to bring more chaos in a new form. What Nagato will never see, though, is the fate of the sealed Bijuu, and the nine souls they harbored.

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A century and a half has passed since the fall the Hokage, Naruto Uzamaki Namikaze. Cities, Villages, and towns are now in ruins, the dead littering the ground. Plant life, with the lack of the sun, has all but withered, and the land has become a desolate wasteland. What is left of the human race now either remains in hiding, or has become part of the 'Machine.'

We see a young man running through a ghost town, keeping to the shadows. The man has orange hair tied in pony tail, and was wearing a white lab coat. In his hand is a small fragment of what's left of the Stone of Gelel. The young man finds a building, ducks out of the way of a searchlight from a machine floating in the air by a large balloon. He sighs in relief, and continues down the path, and approaches an old looking shack. He knocks on it a few times, and a small slit opens on the door revealing a man's eyes.

After the man confirms that the visitor is human, he opens the door quickly, allowing him in. Inside, many humans dressed and prepared for a fight stand guard. These humans wear the ninja Chuunin vests, ninja pouches containing a variety of weapons and ninja food pills, swords on their backs, and in their hands, the newest Chakra Launchers, a gun that was developed to focus ones chakra into the barrel clip, then fire Rasengan like balls of chakra at the target. This device was inspired by Rasen-Shuriken used by one of the Hokages. These men and women were the rebel forces against the 'Machine,' and were all that was left of the great Shinobi villages. As he journeyed deeper underground, the cavern grew larger, showing many makeshift tents and shelters, where the wounded and civilians resided.

The man continued down the underground path way, until he made it to a large door covered with chakra seals. He opened the door, and inside were the rebel's brightest minds working tirelessly to invent new ways of combating the 'Machine.' He continued on further, until he came upon an even larger door littered with even more chakra seals then the last, and had one big blood seal on the door. He bit his thumb, and then spread the blood on the paper, opening the door. Inside was a large laboratory, where another man, this one much older looking, hard at work in the dark corner of the lab, sewing a needle through what looked like a rag doll.

"Professor, I found one!" said the man carrying the Stone. The old man stopped what he was doing to acknowledge the young man who walked, and then went back to sewing the doll.

"Good work, my assistant. Now put it with the other stones, I am almost finished with the last one!" The Professor stated while working on the doll. The Professor's flesh was riddled with wrinkles, giving him an ancient look. He wore a white lab coat, and black clothing underneath. His hair was pure white and spiked back, and his eyes were obsidian black that was faded having long lost its true black luster.

The assistant complied, and moved toward a large machine with eight other dolls strapped into it. The assistant stared for a moment at each of the dolls, taking in their detailed appearance. Each of the dolls resembled a human from the past, from the face to the hair, the eyes blank, but that was it, the rest of the features being made of components of machinery and fabric, which was currently open in the chest areas revealing machinery underneath, and a number on random spots of their bodies. From the elbow down, and from the knee down was not covered by fabric, thus revealing the metal armored arms and legs, the hand and feet were made of wood, but the fingers and toes were interconnected metal and were pointed at the end, resembling claws.

On tables were schematics for all the rag dolls, revealing that the fabric is made from a special chakra fabric made by Kirigakure for the purpose of hiding one's chakra. This fabric was originally created to help ninja stealth, especially when dealing with someone like the Hyuuga or someone able to sense chakra. It also could work as a Chakra container. The schematics also revealed that the robotic structure was similar to the structure used for Ninja Puppets in Sunagakure. Finally, the core of the devices revealed to be a core piece to chakra armor meant to contain large amounts of chakra, similar to the armor made in the Land of Snow.

"They are very well detailed, Professor. Were any of them someone you knew?" The assistant asked.

"No, I have seen the faces of them from pictures of their corpses. I have only known three of them, and I made their dolls from memory!" The Professor answered, while adding the finishing touches to the doll he was working on. When the man was done, he then took an ink quill, and then wrote on the stomach of the doll the number **9**. He then rubbed his weary eyes, and then examined the doll. It was a 5 inch doll, with blonde spiky hair, whisker shaped stitches on its cheeks, and blank eyes. "I have finished the last one." The Professor stated, heading towards the machine with the other eight dolls.

"Professor, are you sure this is wise?" His assistant asks.

"Nothing I ever did was wise. All my life, I have done nothing for anyone else but myself, I even betrayed those close to me." He finishes hooking the doll up to the system, and then walks to another piece of machinery that resembles a mask with eye holes in it. "Everything I did was for my own selfish desires, and in the end, humanity paid for it. I wish to correct my mistakes, and make things right. It is time to repent for my past sins! Go prepare the others before I start. When the process starts, the 'Machine' will sense us, the rebels will need to be prepared for an attack, and the civilians will need to be evacuated. Besides, I need a moment alone."

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The assistant wasted no time, and left the room to prepare the soldiers for an attack. The professor then took out a small wind up camera, with a recording device. He set it up to record a message of himself, taking a picture out of his pocket staring down at it, his eyes slightly tearing up. The photo was in horrible condition, the picture almost faded.

The Assistant reported that they would be starting the experiment in half an hour, and warned them of the coming of the 'Machine.' Instantly, the rebels began to evacuate the civilian to special shelters that should hide them from the machine's chakra sensors, and they prepared the defenses for their base.

When it was time, the Assistant ran back into the lab, prepared to aid the Professor, who had just finished his recording, adding the finishing touches. He walked up to the Professor, who placed the recorder on a scroll, and in a puff of smoke, it vanished inside the scroll. The Professor then picked the scroll up, and then handed it to his assistant.

"Make sure that they receive this." He said sternly, looking at his creations while saying it.

"Are you sure there is no other way, or that it will even work?" Assistant asked, fear and concern on his face.

The Professor responded by pulling a lever, lowering nine large glass containers hanging from the ceiling. Inside of each the containers, were violent streams of chakra, erratically swaying inside of the containers, almost taking the shapes of monsters and animals.

"My theory is that when a Bijuu is sealed in a person, they are attached to a piece of their soul. Thus creating the Jinchuuriki! But when Pain removed the Bijuu, I theorize that it tore a fragment of the respective human's soul." The Professor stated, staring at the nine containers holding the nine Bijuu. "Look at them, barely even a fraction of their former glory. Thanks to Pain's attempt to destroy the Machine, it had weakened them, not by much, but enough to reseal them into almost anything."

"But professor! Wouldn't the Bijuu take control instead if we attempt to seal them into these new vessels?" Assistant asked.

"Why do you think we have been toiling away to create these machines. The Bijuu are so weakened now, it will make the process easier to make sure the human soul is the dominant mind. Of course, we are leaving this up to chance for the future, but we will see what happens." The Professor stated. "A Jinchuuriki means the power of human sacrifice, meaning that in order to seal the Bijuu, a sacrifice must be made. The only difference to then and now is I am going to seal all of them for the price of one." He then took out of his pocket a small circular device, no bigger than a piece of yen, with three symbols on the top of it, and three power sockets on the back.

They both began to get to work setting up the equipment, the Professor placing the device on a spot in front of the dolls.

"When will they awaken?" the assistant asked.

"It will take time for the chakra to integrate into the systems, and maybe even longer for the soul to awaken. I have set the dolls to only activate when they are fully integrated. Could take hours, days, months, even years, and we still need to consider the chakra we are installing in them. We are indeed leaving this up to chance." The Professor then looked up at the containers again, mainly the container for the Kyuubi.

"Let us begin!" the professor then sat down behind the mask which was facing the dolls. "Have the soul transfer device on standby and open the first the container." The professor stated, setting his face inside the mask, the only visible part was his eyes and hair.

The assistant nodded, pulling a lever, lowering the first container containing the Ichibi closer to the small circular device, which was currently in front of the doll marked **1** on the left of its forehead. Dirt, dust and sand began to gather underneath the container. The assistant then pulled another lever, opening the container. The moment it opened, he was almost knocked down by the power and killing intent from the sentient chakra.

"**Woo Yeah! I AM FREE BABY!**" the chakra yelled out, beginning to take the form of a tanuki. "**TIME TO LET THE BODIES HIT THE FLOOR! Oh YEAH!**"

"I don't think so…" the Professor stated behind the mask. All of sudden, the eyes of the Professor had turned red, a black dot in the center and black lines intercrossing resembling a six sided star. "**Sharingan!**"

At that moment, a wave of energy leapt from the mask, taking hold of the Ichibi and restraining him. Ichibi tried to resist, but the eyes held a stronger hold over it. The Professor was looking for something within the Ichibi, something that would prove his theory right.

"There it is!" he yelled out, as he focused on the area around the beast's left forehead. The beast roared in pain, as something began to emerge from the forehead, a human shape, which was the color of a human's chakra.

"I have it! Activate the soul transfer device NOW!" He yelled out to his assistant. The assistant then pushed a button, and spherical device's symbols began to glow green, and then instantly the device opened up, beginning to suck in the tailed beast.

"**OHH! BUT I JUST GOT HERE! I DIDN'T EVEN KILL ANNNYYythiiinnng…**" he was completely sucked into the device, which was violently shaking, and the sand and dust settled. The Professor relaxed for moment, catching his breath, his eyes returned to normal, tears of blood beginning to trickle down his face. Wires connected to the device then surged, as energy left the device, and shot right into the first doll. The doll began to spasm, and ripping sound was being heard, as two raccoon ears and a tail ripped out of its body, and the number **1** began to glow a light green color.

"Professor! Don't strain yourself!" The assistant said in worry.

"I'll be fine; we still have eight to go. We must move on. Prepare the next one." Professor said, beginning to feel fatigue.

"Professor, you need time to rest." The assistant stated concern evident on his face.

**Boom!** The ground shook for a moment, the sound of a far off explosion sounding outside the lab.

"I said I am fine. We have to keep going. The machines are already here. We have to finish this before the 'Machine' gets here, or it will capture the Bijuu for energy that would last many lifetimes. WE MUST FINISH WHAT WE STARTED!" The Professor stated in a frustrated tone, and then sat behind the mask yet again. "Do it systematically! After I have finished sealing one, move on to the next! Do not hesitate for anything!"

"There must be another way other then killing yourself!" the assistant said, sorrow edged on his face. "I don't want you to die, Professor. You have been like a father to me!"

The Professor then calmed, his face becoming serene. "And you have been like a grandson to me. But we do not have any other option at this time. Besides, I have lived longer than anyone ever should." He put his hand on the assistants shoulder, and then looked him straight in the eyes. "You remind me so much of your grandfather. He would have been proud to have seen what you have accomplished."

**Boom!** The ground shook again, another sound of a far off explosion sounding outside the lab.

"We do not have much time, begin the process!" The Professor then took his seat in front of the mask, his eyes turning red again. "Begin!"

The assistant repeated the process the same as last time, each time becoming more and more difficult for the old man, only some of the Bijuu being compliant. Blood was tearing out his eyes, his breathing becoming harder and harsher as each Bijuu was sealed into each doll. The process of bringing out the soul of the human was difficult, but he had succeeded for each one he did, making sure the human soul remain dominant. By the seventh Bijuu, he lost his eyesight, and was now completely blind, blood splurting from his eyes.

"I can't see! (Heavy breathing) You will have… to tell me… when… you released the beasts. I can still… see the chakra… but that's it!" the Professor said in absolute anguish, both physical and mental.

**Boom!** The ground shook again, another sound of a far off explosion sounding outside the lab, but this time, it sounded closer.

"It's almost here, we have to hurry!" the Professor desperately yelled.

They started up the process again, and, fortunately for the Professor, the Hachibi was the most compliant out of the others, making the task of finding the soul much simpler. Then came the hardest one of all, the Kyuubi, for the moment when they released it, the area was beginning to heat up, and the Professor was feeling immense pain, very fatigue from sealing the others.

"**So, we meet again, Uchiha!**" the demon roared out, looking the Professor in the eyes. "**Time has not been kind to you!**"

"You will be sealed Kyuubi, and he will be in control!" The Professor said unwavering, continuing to stare at the beast with his blind eyes, already beginning the process.

"**HA! The kit in control, like I would let that happen! And it seems to me that you are pressed on time.**" The Kyuubi laughed, mocking the elderly Professor.

**Bang!** There was a banging at the door, the sound of metal hitting metal. The 'Machine' was coming for the Bijuu, sensing the near infinite amounts of chakra which it thrives on.

"You would choose the prison of the 'Machine' over the prison of a body?" The Professor asked no real concern in his voice.

"**I couldn't care less where my prison is. But, oh how much joy it would bring me to see you dead, Uchiha.**" The Kyuubi then began to flail about, causing the Professor great pain.

The Professor pushed past the pain, continuing on with the procedure, hands gripping the table so tight his fingers were beginning to break. The sound outside continued, obviously the rebel's either retreated, or were all dead or captured.

"You… Will… Be… SEALED!" The Professor yelled, pushing one last time to seal the Kyuubi, giving every ounce of will and strength to seal it, his blind eyes now riddled with blood shots. He finally spotted what he was looking for, the fragment soul of Naruto Uzamaki Namikaze.

"Got you, seal it now!" he yelled to his assistant, who pressed the same button again, causing the device to absorb the Kyuubi's chakra.

"**NOOOOO!**" the Kyuubi was completely sucked into the device, the chakra recoiling towards the Professor, striking him down.

"Professor!" the assistant ran to the Professor, checking to see if he was alright, as the chakra made its way to the last doll, the number **9** glowing a light green color on its stomach, a fox tail and ears ripping out of its respective body parts.

"It…is…done…" the Professor stated, the color in his black eyes fading. "I hope… I've earned… your forgiveness…" a wet tear mixed with blood from his eyes, rolling down his cheek, falling on the photo in his hand. The picture was of four people, a silver-haired masked man with three twelve year old kids. Finally, the Professor breathed his last breath, and then stopped, finally letting death take him.

The assistant wept for the loss of his father figure, digging his head into the Professor's chest. He quickly snapped out of his depression when he heard the continuous banging sound. He realized that even with the chakra fabric, the 'Machine' would still be able to see them, and would still collect the dolls, and the Professor for parts.

The assistant quickly ran to the door, where a lever was, and quickly pulled it, revealing a large tarp made from the same Chakra concealing fabric as the dolls, covering half of the lab with the Professor's dead body and the dolls. He ran under the tarp, and then realized something.

"It already knows that a chakra signature is in here. If doesn't find anything, the tarp will not work. I guess I will have to be the bait." He then took out a kunai and a bunch of explosive tags out of his lab coat. "If I am going down, I will make sure it gets nothing from me, but I will attempt to take all that I can!" He then placed the scroll that the professor gave him right next to the professor's dead body. He then quickly prepared himself for the worst.

It didn't take long for the 'Machine' to break through, accompanied by other machines that varied in appearance, bodies of the dead all around the area. The 'Machine' was a large creation of mechanical parts, its many arms covered in many tools and weapons, armor surrounding the core of it, and one big red optic eye that was currently peering down at the assistant.

"That's right, you see me. I am the one you want! But you won't get me, for I have other plans." He then jumped the 'Machine,' beginning to try and climb it. The smaller machines saw this, and began to fire sharp projectiles towards the assistant. Some of the sharp weapons embedded themselves into his back, but he kept going, ignoring the pain, for in his hand was a nice little ball made from paper bombs. All of sudden, one of the 'Machines' arms reached out and grabbed his leg, crushing it and breaking the bone.

"Ahh!" he yelled out in pain.

It then moved him to its optic sensor, seeing the paper bomb ball, grabbing it and tossing it aside, it then grabbed his other leg, and both of his arms, effortlessly breaking them. Sharp appendages began to move towards his body, ready to decapitate or dissect him.

'Professor, Grandpa, mother, father, I will be seeing all of you soon. And Grandpa, this one is for you!' he thought to himself.

All of sudden, the flesh on his face began to darken, the sclera in his eye turned black, his hair began to grow out and become wild, and finally, his right arm not only darkened in color, but his arm began to misshapen and to enlarge, breaking out of the clutches of the robotic appendage. He then brought his misshapen arm to his still restrain other arm, placing the palm on the mechanical appendage. A piston formed on his right elbow, coming out, then instantly receding back into his arm, causing a burst of chakra to explode out his hand, destroying the dainty claw.

Out of the assistant's back, the sharp objects and projectiles began to pop out, and then circular spikes began to form out of his back, ripping up the lab coat he had on. He then smashed the mechanical arms that held his legs, allowing him to free fall for moment, before the spikes released a burst of chakra, pushing him towards the optic of the 'Machine.' The piston formed again in his elbow, and he burst the chakra into the 'Machine,' pushing it back out of the lab. Due to the chakra armor, it sustained zero damage.

His legs instantly bulged, turning into monstrous appendages, healing his broken legs, allowing him to land on the ground safely. His right forehead had formed horn appendages, his mouth turning into maniacal toothy grin. He then looked towards the paper bomb ball, and then grabbed it, running towards his intended target.

The smaller machines began to fire sharp projectiles towards him, but he just shrugged it off, and pushed on, ignoring the pain. The man shaped machines tried to stop him, by launching chakra bullets towards him, but his arm simply changed again, and then elongated, grabbing one of the machines, and then flailing it like mace at the other machines.

The spikes on his back erupted with chakra, propelling him forward, towards the 'Machine,' paper bomb ball in his left hand. He smashed through the smaller machines like tinker a toy, ignoring the many sharp objects piercing his body. Using his misshapen arm, he propelled himself into the air, over the 'Machine,' free falling down towards it.

The smaller machines and the man size machines began to fire whatever long range weapon they had, but he continued to freefall, only some actually hitting him. The 'Machine' saw the threat, and began to try and use its multiple limbs to either knock him away, stab him, or cut him to pieces. To dodge these arms, the spikes on his back changed into a pair of webbed hand shaped wings. He swerved, and dodged, avoiding each appendage with agile vigor, until an appendage with a buzz saw attached came towards him. He narrowly ducked under the saw, so it was able to slice off one of his wings.

"AHHH!" He yelled in pain, but continued on, falling and landing on the top of the 'Machine.' Using his cursed arm, he took the paper bomb ball, and rammed it into the armor, greatly denting it.

"Good-Bye! Die!" he stated, setting the paper bombs off.

**Boom! **A great explosion filled the underground area, causing it to cave in. When the earth settled, almost everything was buried, except for the lab, thanks to the metal casing. We see the human arm of the assistant, buried, crushed, burned, and lifeless under the debris.

Little ways away, we see the ruble sifting and moving, revealing the 'Machine,' damaged, but not destroyed. It begins to move away from the area, the aid of the surviving machines aiding it.

Inside the lab, the dolls began to resonate, the numbers glowing even brighter than before.

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I am sorry to say, but do not expect this to be updated often, I need time to gather my thoughts, and plan this out, makes some plots, etc. If you like this story, then please review.

Signed,

Mr. Nobody


	2. Life must go on

**My apologies for not updating sooner, it took me awhile to get this together, and to plan this completely out. I do hope you enjoy. Also, I'd like to give a shout out to the Following for Reviewing: and HinataElyonToph, thanks for the reviews, new record of two reviews per chapter. Booyeah!**

**I own nothing. For I am Nobody. Let the story begin. Also, forgive my Japanese, for I know none.**

**Blink! Blink!**

The eyes of the doll began to open, groggily, but soon darting wide awake. He stared at the area around him, a dusty room, metal parts rusted, and decades old. He continued to survey the scenery; until he noticed that his right hand was strapped hanging upwards by a leather strap, slightly restraining his appendage.

He took a look at his left hand, and noticed it was currently free, so using it; he began to work on unstrapping his bounds. Sadly, he didn't bother to look down; otherwise, he would have noticed that the strap was the only thing preventing him from falling downwards towards the ground. When he fell, he landed with tumble, feet first, and laid there for a few seconds.

When he finally got back up, he finally noticed something about his hands. He studied them, noticing that his fingers, though sharpened like a claw, had noticeable joints, and were made of metal. The palm of his hands was hollowed wood, covering the mechanics of the hands. His wrist was a metallic ball joint, and his forearm was armored metal all the way up to his elbows, covering up the mechanics, the rest of his arms were covered by burlap cloth. He looked down, and saw that his feet and legs were made pretty much the same way, more or less.

He then finally noticed the unzipped zipper on his chest, a bunch of wires hooked up to the inside of his chest as well, protruding from the outside. He began to panic and freak out at the sight, and began to pull each of the wires out of his chest. The moment the wires disconnected, a red glow came from his chest, not a grand one, but a small simple one. It was then he looked inside of his chest, seeing the inner mechanical workings of his body, the red glow coming from some kind of armored covered orb, a sort of core.

Deciding that this was way too weird, he zipped up the zipper all the way to his neck, the red glow dying away, and he began feeling comfortable to not be able to see his insides. He then noticed a dimly green glowing number on his stomach area, the number **9**.

'Where am I?' he thinks to himself. 'For that matter, who am I?' A shocked look plays across his face. 'I-I can't remember.' In frustration, he grabs his head, only to notice a slight feeling on top.

He began to reach up to his head, and he grabbed what was on top. Instantly, for the first time since he woke up, he felt something, or to be more exact, he felt his hands as whatever he was holding had felt them. He began to pull the object down to his eyes, and what he saw surprised him.

Two orange fox like ears, with a blonde highlight to it. The whole of his body felt nothing, felt numb, but these ears were the only thing that actually did feel something.

**Swish! Swish!**

Correction, second only thing to feel anything, for when he looked behind him, he saw a long fluffy orange fox tail with the blonde highlights, swishing back and forth.

At this point, he decided to go back to trying to figure out his origins. 'There must be something more to me than just a number. It feels like I should be remembering something, but I just can't remember.' Images then began to flash in front of his eyes, like watching a television with bad reception, tuning in and out.

An image then became clear to him, showing a young man with blonde hair, blue eyes, and an orange jumpsuit, staring back at him. Upon closer inspection, he saw that the young blonde was actually staring at a mirror of himself; he was seeing his own reflection. Then the youth yelled out, "My name is Naruto Uzumaki, and I am going to be Hokage! Believe it!"

He then came back to reality, looking around him again.

'Was that me? Was that who I was? Is that my name?'

"…?" he tried to speak, try to say his name, but nothing came out. He held his throat area, and tried again, but nothing still came out.

Deciding to forget it for now, he continued to look around, spotting a spherical device, with three symbols on the front of it, and three power sockets on the back, in front of the spot where he had awaken, hooked up to a stand. Curious, he decided to climb the stand, careful not to fall again, to see what the device was. It was hooked up to an outlet connected to thirty six wires, three of which were the ones that were plugged into his chest. The rest of the wires were close to eight other spots, empty and unoccupied.

Before he could fiddle with the device, he spotted someone lying on the ground on their backs near a table with a mask looking contraption, covered by scattered paper. More curious about the person, the small fox-like doll jumped off the stand, landing surprisingly perfect on the ground, breaking or damaging nothing.

He ran towards the man, wondering why he was laying on the ground. As he got closer, he began to slow his speed as a feeling of dread began to come over him. He soon stopped, and silently gasped in horror at what he saw before him. The man was huge in comparison to the small six inch doll, easily dwarfing his size, a giant if compared, but that was not what surprised the fox-like doll. The man was nothing but a skeletal corpse, decades old.

He was beginning to feel slightly nervous, but decided to ignore the inch of fear he was feeling once he spotted the corpse had two items in both its hands. In the hand close to him was an old dusty picture, the image nearly completely gone, and in the other hand a scroll with a symbol of a swirl shaped leaf, and the number 9.

Taking a look at the picture in the man's hand, what he saw was a nearly faded image of four people. There was man with silver hair, a headband covering his left eye, and a mask covering his face, who was behind three children, ruffling two of the boy's heads.

On the left of the picture was a boy with black hair shaped like a bird's wing, a permanent scowl on his face, and a look of 'rather be somewhere else than here' in his eyes. Next to that boy was a girl with long pink hair, a girlish smile on her face, her eyes closed from smiling, she seemed happy to be there.

The last boy caught his attention, though. It was the boy from his flashback, Naruto Uzumaki. He had an angry almost growling face, and he was directing that face towards the other young male in the group shot, arms crossed above his chest.

The doll continued to stare at this picture, wondering about its significance to him. Deciding for it to be a mystery for later, he carefully folded the picture into fourths, and then zipped open his chest and placed it inside of it for storage.

He was about to move towards the scroll to examine it, when he heard something behind the large tarp that covered the lab, and went to investigate. He moved towards the tarp, lifting a flap of it to see the other side, but accidently pulling, causing the already rusted rings to drop the curtain completely, piling up right in front of him. He jumped on top of the tarp, and what he saw surprised him, for it was the remnants of an old battle, human corpses long since decayed beyond recognition, scattered, only bones remaining, among the various junk piles.

By the look of the area, they were underground, dim light from above ground illuminating through the cracks. He heard the noise again, and spotted what looked like a miniature caravan of two carts, trekking through the wastes, with a figure at the front. He attempted to call out to the caravan, but then remembered that he couldn't speak.

Deciding to not lose them, he ran to them, moving surprisingly fast for something so small. As he traveled through the debris, he saw the bodies of the dead, becoming more nervous as he traveled to his destination. So distracted by the scenery, he did not see that he was closer to his intended target then he thought, and rammed right into the one leading the caravan of carts.

"Ugh!" cried the one he ran into. "Uh! What hit me?" the person spoke.

The fox-like doll looked up to see what he ran into, and what he saw surprised him. What stood before him was a doll that looked like him, or built like him, but with major differences.

The doll he was staring at had dull blonde hair, combed to stick upwards on the left of his head and come down over his forehead on his right. He had one eye on the left with a stitched area below the eye on the cheek, a purple pupil peering back, and the other eye on his right was dark and devoid of anything color, a crack running through the eye. He was wearing a green cloth on his shoulders and around his waist along with a greenish-blue sash on the waist. He had a strap on his chest area, the opening to his chest, and the number **3**glowing in green letters on the left of his stomach. On his back was strapped a dentist pick, with a five pedaled flower tied to the top.

But what really caught the fox-like doll's attention was that on the other doll's back were a spiked grey tortoise shell and a spiky scaled tail swaying behind him.

"Hey! Watch where you're going bud!" the turtle doll angrily stated, getting up from the collision. But the moment he got a good look at what ran into him, his one eye widened. "Wait, hold on sec! I think I have seen you somewhere before."

He began to give the fox-like doll a once over, then noticed the nine on his stomach.

"Ah yes. Now I remember. You were the one all the way at the far end. My name is 3 in case you couldn't figure it out. I am guessing your name is 9. Right?" the now named 3 asked.

"…!" The fox doll tried to talk, but nothing still came out.

"Huh? Oh! I guess your voice component must be damaged. Here, follow me." 3 had then led the fox doll to one of the carts. 3 began to rummage through a bunch of junk that was scattered inside of the cart, until he pulled out an action figure of a samurai. He pressed a button on the old toy, and the action phrase "For Honor" was instantly spoken by said toy.

"That'll do!" he began to fiddle with the toy, taking it apart and tearing out the sound mechanism. He then motioned towards the fox doll, looking at the doll's zipper. "May I?"

The fox doll nodded, unzipping his chest, a red light emanating from inside.

"Ah! Interesting! So you have that one!" 3 stated, full of astonishment. "Ok, now hold still."

He pulled out of the doll an old broken voice box, damaged somehow, most likely overloaded, and then began to place the new voice component inside, fiddling with fixing it. "There we go! It is now plugged in, try it."

"N**aH%a**r#U!" He tried to speak, but the voice was distorted and full of static.

"Hold on! Let me try to adjust it." 3 stated, continuing to fiddle with wires inside of the fox doll's body.

"NrU#o!" the fox doll kept trying to speak, the voice coming in clearer and clearer with every second. "NrU#o! NarU#o! Naruto!" He stated with smile, coming in clear, a bit of a childishly gruff voice.

"Huh? You want some fish cake?" 3 asked, confused.

"No, that's my name! Naruto Uzumaki!" He answered back.

"Oh! You mean your past life's name. We all choose to call each other by our numbers instead." 3 stated.

"Wait! Past life?" Naruto asked.

"You got that name from a memory that wasn't yours, but someone else's. You on the other hand are an artificial being with the memories of someone implanted. Because of that, I am just going to call you 9." 3 explained.

"I would rather go by the name Naruto Uzumaki!" the now named 9 said in a frustrated tone.

"Well, I am sorry, but I am going to call you 9, and knowing everyone else, they will also call you 9, because it is much easier to remember than Naruto Uzumaki." 3 retorted back.

Before 9 could respond, he heard something with his big fox ears, twitching from the sound.

"Is there someone else here?" 9 asked.

"Not that I can think of." 3 said, slightly nervous, hands slowly reaching for his pick.

3 spotted a wheel on its side nearby. "Go hide in the wheel. Don't come out for anything." 3 murmured. 9 looked at him, wondering what the sound was. "Go! Now!" 3 whispered harshly, pointing towards the wheel.

9 decided to obey, and ducked and covered inside of the rim of the fallen wheel.

3 drew his dentist pick from his back, and then held it at his side, surveying his surroundings. While surveying, he spotted a canteen of water, his eye widening. The canteen was a large 1 liter black plastic jug that was still surprisingly standing upright. With surprisingly great speed, he moved toward the canteen, hoping there was water inside and to get to it in time.

Suddenly, a large cat like beast made from random parts jumped in between 3 and the canteen. The beast was the size of an average house cat, having the skull of one for a head piece, a red glowing optic eye in the left socket.

3 took his dentist pick, and jumped abnormally high in the air above the metallic beast, pick raised above his head in a striking position. Before 3 could bring down the pick, the 'Cat Beast' struck him with one of its metallic claws, sending him rolling on the ground, knocking him out.

The 'Cat Beast' began to stalk closer to 3, getting ready to pounce, when suddenly; a rock pebble hit it in the back of the head, catching its attention. It turned to the source, which was 9 by the tire, picking up another pebble, and taunting the beast.

"Come get me you overgrown pussy!" 9 yelled out.

Whether or not the 'Cat Beast' understood what 9 said or not was irrelevant, it saw another target, and needed to catch it while the other was incapacitated.

While the 'Cat Beast' was going after 9, another 9 came out of a pile of junk nearby, and ran towards 3 to try and awaken him. "Come on, get up. We don't have much time." 9 whispered harshly.

3 began to stir, and stared up at 9, eye widening with a start. "What happened with the beast?"

"It's distracted now, but I don't know how long it will last."

3 stared over to where the tire was, and saw the other 9 still catching the attention of the 'Cat Beast.'

"A **Clone Jutsu**?" he questioned.

"More like **Shadow Clone Jutsu**. At least, that's what I think it's called." 9 answered. "We don't have time, we got to move!"

"Wait! I think that thing busted my leg; I won't be able to out run the beast if we tried to run now. Help me get to the water canteen." 3 said sternly.

"What? Why?" 9 questioned.

"Just do it!" 3 yelled.

9 complied with 3's request, grabbing 3 under his arm, 3 using his pick as a cane, and aiding him toward the large water canteen.

The 'Cat Beast' pounced toward the 9 clone, grabbing it in its teeth, attempting to rend and slice it to shreds. It was caught off guard when the clone instead went 'Poof,' smoke covering the area around its mouth. When it noticed that the doll was no longer in its mouth, it roared in frustration, turning its head towards 3 and the real 9, who were slowly approaching the canteen. With great speed, it leapt into the air, covering much ground, closing in on the two dolls.

When 3 and 9 successfully made it to the canteen, 3 began to place his hand over the canteen, waving it back and forth. "Good, it does have water still in it." 3 stated, relieved.

"That's great and all, but how is that going help us in our current situation?" 9 yelled out.

"No time! Help me poke a hole in this thing!" 3 yelled, using his pick to try and jab a hole into the plastic.

9 picked up a screw bolt he found on the ground nearby, and began to try and jab it into the jug, both 3 and 9 failing the attempt.

The 'Cat Beast' was drawing nearer and nearer, until all it needed to be upon them was a great pounce. 9 noticed this, and stopped what he was doing, putting his mechanical hands together in a hand sign. He began to focus, and suddenly, red chakra poured from his body. "**Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu**!" he yelled.

Suddenly, a large explosion of smoke filled the area, and when it cleared, it revealed hundreds of clones of 9. 3 looked with amazement, his one eye and mouth widening with awe. "Amazing! How long have you been awake?" 3 asked in awe.

One of the 9's gave him an incredulous look, wondering why he was asking that now. "I just recently woke up. Why?"

"Just recently? And you already remember a Jutsu? It took me and the others weeks to remember most of our Jutsu. You remembered in a matter of minutes. This is incredible." 3 clarified.

The 'Cat Beast' gave off another roar, and began to charge through the masses of 9 clones.

"Attack!" the real 9 yelled, causing all his clones to start charging towards the 'Cat Beast,' grabbing whatever objects they could use as a weapon they could find. They all jumped up on the beast, the sound of metal hitting metal as many tried to jab their makeshift weapons into the beast's metallic hide.

The 'Cat Beast' began to try swiping at many of the 9 clones, flailing and thrashing about to strike all that approached it.

"That should buy us some time!" 3 stated, "Help me open this water container, quickly!" he then continued to try and stab it with his pick. 9 continued stabbing with the screw bolt as well, using all of his strength to apply pressure to each strike, until finally, it poked a small hole, water leaking out in drops.

3 noticed this, and then took his pick and stabbed it into the hole, trying to widen it. He pried it open just enough to allow the water to gush outward. The 'Cat Beast' was knocking the 9 clones away like flies, the number of clones quickly dwindling.

"We're almost out of time!" 9 yelled out.

3 ignored 9, placing his hands together, and began going through a complicated set of hand seals.

"**Ushi, Saru, Ju, Ne, I, Tori, Ushi, Uma, Tori, Ne, Tora, Inu,** **Tora, Mi, Inu, Ushi…**" 3 began to say while making the hand seals.

At that moment, another flashback began to go through 9's eyes again, coming in like a static picture on a screen. The image that appeared in his mind was of two men; one was the silver haired man from the picture, the other was a large masked man with an even larger sword on his back, both of the men face each other on top of water. They both suddenly began going through the same hand seals as 3 at the same time, already through a good portion of the required seals.

"**Jin Saru, Tori, Tatsu, Tori, Ushi, Uma, Hitsuji, Tora, Mi, Ne, Saru, Ju, I, Tatsu…**"

9 then realized that he wasn't just a spectator in this flashback; he was seeing through Naruto's eyes again when he noticed his reflection in the water. The flashback faded out again before anything could happen, and returned to the sight of the 'Cat Beast' finishing off the last of his clones.

"**TORI!**" 3 yelled out, a grayish colored chakra flowing out of his body through the seams of his fabric and into the water. "**Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!**"

The Water began to rise up, and take the shape of a large serpent like dragon, and began to rush towards the 'Cat Beast,' slamming into it, and pushing it back.

Though the water was strong, the 'Cat Beast' proved to be stronger, pushing through the water, inching closer to its prey.

"It's still coming!" 9 yelled out.

"Tenacious bugger, isn't he? Take this then!" 3 yelled out, beginning to make a new set of hand seals. He then placed his hand against the raging water, the grayish chakra flowing out again. "**Ice style: Ice Prison Jutsu!**"

Suddenly, the water changed to ice, freezing part of the 'Cat Beast,' and immobilizing it, but small cracks began to form on the ice.

"That won't hold it for long; let's get out of here while we can." 3 stated, grabbing his dentist pick, and leaning on 9's shoulder. They both hobbled quickly towards the carts, 9 setting 3 inside. "How we going to move the carts with my leg busted?" 3 questioned.

"Like this!" 9 then created ten shadow clones, which all began to push or pull the carts, moving it along fairly quicker, steadily gaining speed.

As they began to move much faster than the dolls could run, the original 9 as well as some of the clones jumped inside, the carts gaining enough momentum and speed to move on its own. The 'Cat Beast' suddenly shattered the ice, breaking completely free from the prison, and began to pursue both 3 and 9, already steadily catching up.

"Man! Does this thing ever quit?" 9 stated.

"Not really! We've got to lose it!" 3 said.

"Alright, hold on tight!" 9 yelled, and suddenly the clones began to lean the cart to left, causing it to sharply turn, and then quickly getting out pushing it again.

"What are you doing?" 3 asked.

"Just trust me! I saw something earlier." 9 yelled.

He then began to rummage through the junk in the cart, and found an old expired Soldier Pill, the contents inside oozing out of a crack."Perfect!" he yelled. Taking aim, he threw the pill towards the 'Cat Beast,' striking it straight on its red optic eye, the oozy contents exploding all over the eye, semi-blinding it.

"Yeah! A direct hit!" 9 cheered.

"Now what? That won't slow it down…" 3 said, worried.

"Won't have to. Alright guys, now!" 9 yelled to his clones.

All the clones began to lean to the left again, turning in that direction down a dead end, the 'Cat Beast' passing right by them, running into another dead end pile. The collision caused the huge junk pile to wobble, and finally, the pile began to collapse, its first victim the 'Cat Beast.'

"ALRIGHT! MOVE IT GUYS!" 9 yelled in panic, the junk pile tsunami head their way. The clones began to pull the carts out of the side dead end, and began running away from the wave of random items, moving faster than a bat out of hell, the wave gaining on them.

"Faster. Must go faster! Must go faster!" 3 repeated, nervously watching the pile coming closer.

Giving their all, the clones gave one last push, jumping the carts off a ramp, landing safely on a sand bag, having out run the pile up.

Both 9 and 3 looked up at the pile, staring straight at it. The then both looked at each other, let a breath they had been holding out. 9 then began to celebrate for finally losing the 'Cat Beast.'

"Woo-yeah! That definitely took care of that thing." 9 yelled a big fox-like grin on his face.

"I have to say man that was the dumbest, most dangerous stunt I have ever seen anyone pull. You almost got us both killed." 3 stated, slightly miffed from the experience. "But I got to say; you sure knew how to pull it off with style. Good job, man!" 3 said with admiration and respect in his voice.

"How did you know that was there?" 3 asked.

"I saw it earlier before I met up with you. I remembered the pile looked unsteady, so I thought that maybe we could use it to crush that beast." 9 explained.

"We better get going before anything else shows up. I'll introduce you to the others." 3 said, looking around.

Unbeknownst to the two, in the pile where the "Cat Beast" lie buried, a mechanical claw suddenly came out, reaching for the surface, and then revealing that the beast was still active. Its red glowing optic began to look for the group, searching for them yet failing at locating them.

Somewhere, in an undisclosed location, the "Machine" began to reactivate, watching the data that was sent to it via the "Cat Beast." It analyzed the chakra signature coming from one of the dolls, noting that out of the entire doll's chakra it has sensed so far, this ninth one was the most powerful, and enough power to run the "Machine" for an eternity.

It sent a new directive to the "Cat Beast," whose original directive was to hunt for any chakra signatures, and either beacon the location, or bring the source of the signature to the "Machine." It confirmed, and complied with this command, and continued its search, spotting a chakra residue made from 9's clones, leading it to the source of the signature, leading it to 9.

* * *

Well, I hope you all enjoyed that! I worked really hard, and lost a lot of sleep to work on it. I am bit dissapointed with this chapter though, it looked a lot cooler when I imagined it in my head. Sigh. Oh well.

Also, here is a challenge to you, write a 9/Naruto cross over of your own, or for that matter, a 9 crossover in general, and if you do, please PM me... I wouldn't mind seeing it for my self.

Please Review.

Signed,

Mr. Nobody

* * *

Life must go on!


	3. Welcome Home

**Mr. Nobody: Hello readers! My apologies for this story being so horrendously late… just that I am at that phase in life during the transition from college to real life… been quite distracted for a while, and hadn't the time to actually sit and write anything… My updates will be slow, but I hope they will still meet you, the reader's… satisfaction. Anyway, onto the story. Enjoy!**

* * *

**Welcome Home**

"YOU WERE THE YONDAIME MIZUKAGE?" 9 yelled out in exasperation.

"Technically, it wasn't me exactly. It was my past life, Yagura, who was the fourth Mizukage. Plus, I wouldn't be that impressed, Yagura was the Mizukage who issued for the destruction of those with bloodline limits. At least, that's all I can remember. The rest goes foggy after that…" 3 stated, as he sat fixing his robotic leg with scrap parts found inside of the cart. While 9's clones were pulling the cart, 3 went on to tell the tales of his past life to the original 9, who sat enjoying the stories being told.

"Still, that is so cool. I was the Rokudaime Hokage way back when. Or, at least I think I was." 9 stated, scratching his head as if searching for the memory.

"Don't rush the memories; they'll come back to you in time." 3 said.

"So why again do you and the others go by numbers instead of your real names?" 9 decided to ask. "I mean, Yagura sounds like a better name than 3."

"Because it doesn't matter that we have the memories of our past lives, we are someone different this time around. The past is the past. The best thing to do is move on. We were all given our names by the marks on our bodies, and that is what we go by." 3 stated flatly, pointing at the **'****3****'** mark on his torso. "Besides… in my opinion, 9 sounds better than being called 'Fishcake.'" 3 joked.

9 gave him a flat look, showing he was not amused.

"There we go, good as new, or good enough for now." 3 stated, flexing his robotic leg. "I should be able to help move the cart. Plus we are getting close to our hideout."

"Great, because my clones are starting to look ragged." 9 pointed, showing his clones looking dead on their feet. "I should probable dismiss them to save my chakra so I can help out too." 9 stated as he put up the hand sign for dismissing his clones.

**Poof!**

All the clones had disappeared, the red chakra returning to 9's body, seeping through the fabric of his burlap flesh.

"Too bad, I was hoping they could help us out with pulling the cart the whole way. But I guess we should just be glad we are so close to the… Hey! Are you ok?" 3 stated worriedly, as 9's face instantly went blank. Suddenly, 9's body fell over, completely turned off and unresponsive.

"Darn. The clones must have transferred their thoughts to him and they probably were depleted. And here I was hoping to have him help with pulling the cart. Oh well… better get moving." 3 complained. He then proceeded with singlehandedly pulling the cart, making his way towards the ruins of a broken down monastery with broken down rusted iron walls and two broken statues on either side of the gate, still a mile away by human standards, and not to mention having a lot of stairs to up to.

"Damn it! Why did you have to pick now to go unconscious?" he stated grumpily.

* * *

**TARGET LOST…**

**PROCESSING…**

The "Cat Beast" looked up in surprise. Earlier, the energy source it was following was lit up like a beacon, easy to track and follow with its Chakra detectors. Now the chakra source had just suddenly vanished, as if it was never there. It began processing and reviewing its current programming…

**FORMER DIRECTIVE: TRACK MASSIVE ENERGY SOURCE AND SIGNAL THE LOCATION OR RETRIEVE THE ENERGY SOURCE.**

**OBJECTIVE STATUS: ENERGY SIGNAL LOST.**

**SYSTEM COMMAND: SENDING REPORT TO HOST ADDRESS…**

**SYSTEM STATUS: AWAITING COMMAND…**

* * *

The "Machine" came back online after going into sleep mode to preserve the limited energy it had left. It was receiving a signal from its scout.

**CONNECTING TO WIRELESS NETWORK…**

**CONNECTION ESTABLISHED.**

**RECEIVING DATA… DATA RECEIVED.**

The "Machine" began to process all the information that it had received, and began to analyze the available options for the current situation.

Thanks in part to the rebels; it was greatly low on energy, due to missing the human energy resource that provided it constant energy to use. It was now only running on preserve energy, only sparing enough for the smaller units that scavenged for energy, or salvaged parts.

The "Cat Beast" was designed to scavenge and hunt for energy, and due to its small size, didn't waste too much energy to run. It was a device developed by the "Machine" to either locate a large energy source, preferably human, and send a signal of its location, or bring back small biological fauna to use as a substitute energy source instead. On its own, it was not combat efficient, and from the feedback the "Cat Beast" had provided of the fight, and considering the doll units outnumbered the "Cat Beast," it would be logical to have it hold back and continue tracking the doll units, and continue monitoring them. It will also send out some of its recon units to investigate the area in which the "Cat Beast" originally found the dolls. In the meanwhile, the "Machine" will construct a new unit created with the purpose of combating and capturing the doll units.

**SENDING NEW DIRECTVIE THROUGH WIRELESS NETWORK…**

**DATA RECEIVED…**

**PROCESSING NEW OBJECTIVE: CREATE COMBAT EFFICIENT DRONE…**

**OBJECTIVE CONFIRMED…**

**BEGINING CONSTRUCTION…**

It transmitted the new directive to the "Cat Beast," and then began constructing the new device, using various and random parts, one of which was an old Kusarigama (chain scythe) that was being held by a skeletal Shinobi corpse. After some buzzing, sparks flying, and connecting parts, the "Machine" was finished, a figure with a red glowing optic at the center, and the "Kusarigama" attached to the top, the new device hissed and whirred, showing it was ready for its prime directive.

* * *

Another picture of static went through his eyes, another image trying to tune in, blinking in and out as the memory played out, and images of a figure standing opposite of him on the other side of a battle field. He was seeing Naruto's memories again. The other person was a young man around the same age of Naruto, with black hair in the shape and color of a raven's wing. He wore a black cloak with red clouds on the design of it, which matched up perfectly with his incredibly pale skin. He stared back at Naruto with crimson red eyes.

"So *buzz* see you *buzz* finally ac*buzz*plished *buzz*ur goal dobe. Or shou*buzz* I say, 'Rokudaime *buzz*kage?'" the figure stated, static cutting some of the scenes out.

"Last cha*buzz* Sas*buzz* *buzz*ease end this now!" Naruto yelled out.

"Naruto. You always *buzz* such *buzz* fool." The young man responded. "After I capt*buzz* you, I will *buzz*pletely erase th*buzz* self serving *buzz*lage of Konoha, and finally, my veng*buzz* will be complete. All things related to me will cease to exist, and then will I know peace."

"So, *buzz* have completely *buzz* your ties Sas*buzz*. Then I have no choice, prom*buzz* or *buzz*, I will stop you and Pain from destroying Kono*buuuuuuuuzzzzzzz*" Naruto stated, just before the picture went black.

* * *

**Blink! Blink!**

He blinked his optics a few times. He awoke to see a lot of sharp objects hanging above his head. Suddenly, 3 appeared in 9's sight, with a pair of mini-scissors opened and ready to cut. To say 9 freaked out would be understatement, for he quickly knocked the scissors out of 3's hands.

"Whoa whoa, easy now! Just cutting a loose thread on your shoulder." 3 exclaimed, placing his hands up complacently. 9 looked over his own body and saw some fresh brand new thread was sowed into him, a long loose thread sticking out of his shoulder. 3 picked up the scissors, then moved slowly, cutting the loose string. "There we go. You had some slight tears here and there that were probably from the fight, so I decided to patch you up."

9 looked around and saw he was lying on a bed made from balled up cotton, wrapped up in stitched up fabric. The room he was in looked to be a small hole in the wall, perhaps created by insects or rodents gnawing on the wood. The hole was covered by some fabric, and the hole in the wall was illuminated by a single eight watt light bulb. There were sewing needles and spools of thread lying about in the room.

"Sorry, I was having a tense dream." 9 stated, rubbing the back of his head.

"Let me guess, a memory of some battle from your past life?" 3 asked.

"I guess… oh and thanks for the… uh… mending?" 9 nervously said.

"Yeah, I kind of thought you should look good before meeting everyone else." 3 stated.

**Thump! Thump!**

Suddenly, the sound of heavy footsteps began to make its way towards the two, and then a large figure stepped into the room. Compared to the six inch dolls, the doll that walked in must have been ten inches tall, quite huge to them, and his robotic parts looked quite bulky and much more heavily armored, showing that his body was built for close range combat.

On his head was what looked like a sake cup, small enough to resemble a conical straw hat, some bandages wrapped in place to hold the hat in place, also wrapped around his face was a leather material covering his mouth and nose region of his face and going down to his shoulders. He was wearing what looked like the top part of a ripped up black Gi, only covering his back, shoulders, and the sides of his chest; he also wore leather wraps around his ankle area of his legs.

His burlap skin looked as though the seams were not as finely cross-stitched as it should have been, leaving small gaps and groves in his fabric. His eyes were the color of a reddish-brown, and a white horses tales swayed behind his back. On the side of his left arm was the number **5** in green glowing ink, and strapped to his back was a human's kunai, almost as big as he was tall.

He scanned the area, peering over 3, until he spotted 9's surprised form. He then let out a low growl, clearly upset about something.

"Uh, hey there 5, I was just finishing up. The new guy just woke up, and I was about to bring him up to meet everyone else." 3 said nervously.

5 just stared angrily at the two, gave a low growl, and then motioned his head to follow him out of the hole in the wall.

"Boy… isn't he a bundle of joy…" 9 stated sourly. Either 5 didn't hear him, or choose to ignore his comment.

The two dolls followed 5 out of the room, going through the makeshift door, and out into a large monastery hall. 9 saw that the place looked old, creaky, and abandoned, showing century's worth of dust and decay. In fact, if it wasn't for their small size, he assumed that they would have fallen through the rotten floorboards. Just in case, he was wary of his step, and made sure not to step on anything too weak to support his weight.

They made it to a bucket attached to rope, resembling a makeshift elevator, and all three jumped inside. 5 then grabbed a rope, and began to pull all of them up. They were heading up to an attic or perhaps to the bell tower. There were many rotted holes on the roof, allowing light from the outside to peer in, and the floor looked the same as the bottom floor. 9 looked around, catching sight of a figure in the corner of the room blowing bubbles.

"Huh, that looks familiar. I feel like I've seen that before." 9 stated with a confused stare. 9 looked ahead to where they were walking, and spotted a small throne in their size made from random materials.

Sitting on that throne was another doll, this one with brick colored hair tied back into a ponytail. On his face, a leather patch was sewn on covering above where the nose and up his forehead would be, and covering his cheeks as well, and a sewn on brick colored fabric for the lower part of his face making it resemble a beard on his chin and around his mouth. He was wearing a golden ring like a crown on his head, with sapphire jewel in the center. He wore a red short Yukata with long sleeves, and around his waist was a big leather strap, held together by a zipper, almost resembling some armor for a Samurai. Coming out his rear was a long fuzzy red monkey tail, and on his leg, printed in green ink was the number **4**. In his hand was a Senbon needle with a hook tied to the non sharp end of it, tied or melded together with metal wiring.

The guy in the throne had a frown on his face. He proceeded to stand up, showing his 6' inch height, with a bit of a slouch in his stance, and he began to walk toward 9 and 3, using the needle-hook as a cane.

"You have a lot to explain 3. Like for instance…" He then pointed the end of his cane towards 9. "Where did you find him?"

3 sternly looked the elderly rag in the eyes, matching his hard gaze. "We were running low on supplies, and my leg was beginning to come apart, so I knew it needed repairs. In order to get the supplies, I excavated the scraps in the old caves at the place of our beginning. I came across him while I was searching for the needed materials. I apologies 4 for my impatience and disobeying your orders, it will not happen again."

"YOU IDIOT! Do you have any idea what might have happened. Did you run into any of the machines?" 4 asked infuriatingly.

"Well, we did technically run into the "Cat Beast," but thanks to 9, we were able to get rid of it." 3 stated. "What's more, he helped with the supplies, which I had to leave half way here when he dispersed his shadow clones."

"Did you say he used Shadow clones? Don't you know that using Shadow clones permeates chakra? You could have given away our location." 4 yelled at 9.

"Easy 4, we saw the "Cat Beast" get buried under some pieces of rubble." 3 coaxed, hoping to calm 4 down.

9, having enough, decided to speak what was on his mind. "Besides, how was I supposed to know, I just woke up. And for that matter, do you mind explaining WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON AROUND HERE?" 9 yelled out.

"Hmm. Very well, if we must." 4 solemnly mumbled. "Hey 6! Provide us with an image."

As 4 said that, the bubbles from earlier began to move toward the center of the room, black splotches filling up the inside. The black splotches then began to take shape inside the bubble, taking the form of a figure strapped to some kind of machine, spikes jutting out the back of the figure.

"We don't remember how or why. But long ago, the humans were terrorized and oppressed by a tyrant who went by the name of Pain. Apparently, he was collecting some large beasts of some kind for some power hungry purpose, and in the process, caused a rebellion to be formed." 4 narrated.

The ink inside of the bubble took shape again, taking the shape of some kind of mechanical looking spider. "In a desperate attempt to retaliate against pain, they created the "Machine." We're not sure of the details, but apparently the "Machine" won its fight, but began to eradicate life."

Suddenly, the ink took the shape of a people running, and in another bubble, it showed the image of a man shaped thing, launching some kind of projectile at the people, supposedly killing them. Another bubble appeared, the black ink taking the shape of smaller ragdoll like figures, hiding out of sight.

"When we first woke up, it was war. Some humans tried to fight back, but only succeeded in giving the "Machine" more materials and energy. You see, it runs on natural energy and chakra. Without its proper source of life, it will eventually die out from lack of energy. Because of how our bodies are built, it cannot detect our chakra, and has to visually find us. It is our task to remain hidden and safeguard this place, until all of the machines are put to rest. And because there is so little in supply, it grows weaker every day."

"Ok, I think I get it, but why not go and attack it while it's weakened. That would be much quicker than just waiting for it to eventually kick the bucket." 9 asked.

"As I mentioned earlier, fighting it risks the chance of gaining more materials for its other machines, or gaining the energy and chakra from whatever it assimilates. Even though it has yet to find a way to extract our energy fully…" 4 winced a bit, instinctually putting his hand over the right side of his torso, gripping the cloth of his red Yukata. "It can still drain us and use our bodies as fuel, albeit slowly. There were others who believed we shouldn't waste time…" The black ink in the bubbles began to take a different form, turning into the numbers **1**, **2**, **7**, and **8**. "We do not know what has become of them though. They might still be alive and still fighting, captured and being drained of their energy or somewhere laying dead and destroyed. In the end, they all chose their paths, just as we have ours. Their mission is theirs, while mine is the survival of as many as possible."

"So are you just going to leave them for dead? You're not even going to go looking for them?"

He then took the hook of his cane, and swiftly wrapped it around 9's neck, lifting him up into the air. "Know this, if you dare threaten our survival, I will not hesitate to do away with you. Understand…" 4 threatened.

9 sternly looked 4 in the eyes, and nodded his head in understanding. "You don't have to worry about me. I'll make sure my actions don't affect you guys." 9 defiantly said.

4 continued to stare at 9, and finally he released him, walking back to his chair. "See that you don't, and you may do as you wish. After all, for the success of the mission, sacrifices must sometimes be made."

9 continued to stare at 4's back, and suddenly another memory began to play out in his mind…

A scene of the masked man with silver hair was standing next to a memorial, and he was speaking to Naruto, and the other two kids. "*buzz* Know this… those who don't follow the rules are scum. But those who would betray their comrades *buzz* are worse than scum…*buzz*" 9's mind returned back to the room, his vision returning to the back of 4.

"How far did you leave the supplies out?" 4 asked 3.

"I'd have to say at least a little ways away, at the bottom of the stairs of the Monastery. I couldn't push it up by myself." 3 answered.

"Very well. Take the new guy, and bring the supplies here. But be sure not to get caught." 4 warned, returning to his spot in his chair.

As the two left the room, a figure began to move out of the shaded area where the bubbles had originated. A pair of golden eyes stared out of the shadows as the figure attempted to peek from behind a support without leaving the confines of his hiding spot. His eyes followed 9 as he left, a look of remembrance shining within those glowing orbs of his. "Naruto…" he whispered

* * *

"Before we head out, let's set you up." 3 stated as they walked into another nook in the wall.

"Set me up?" 9 asked.

"If you haven't noticed, each of us are dressed and carry around our own makeshift weapons. The "Machine's" minions could attack us at any time, so we carry a weapon at all times. As for the clothes, that's optional… but some of us feel comfortable wearing them for our own reasons. Me… I like to wear them because it gives me individuality." 3 explained.

"Individuality? You have a tortoise shell on your back. I don't think you can get any more individualistic than that!" 9 commented.

"Oh shut up…" 3 snapped.

The two entered the nook, and it revealed an assortment of cloths and clothing just meant for their size.

"How the hell do you guys have so much clothing in our size?" 9 asked incredulously.

"Most of these outfits are clothes from dolls or action figures. Back when 7 was around though, she would make a whole line of clothing for us, and 1 would usually help her out." 3 then had a look of sadness on his face, remembering the missing dolls.

9 decided to browse through, and try to find something. It wasn't until he came across a red and black duster with black flames at the trim did he stop, and he began to stare at the jacket.

At that moment, another flashback began to go through 9's eyes again, coming in like a static picture on a screen. It was a battle field, and there Naruto stood, wearing a red duster with black flames at the trim, worn and torn from fighting. He stood before six figures, all of them with the same eyes, and Sasuke, his red eyes staring menacingly at him. In Naruto's right hand, a spiraling sphere of blue energy swirled. Before anything could be said or done, the picture blacked out, returning 9 to his senses, staring at the red duster before him.

"Huh, what is it?" 3 asked.

"I don't know, this thing just seems familiar…" 9 drawled.

3 stared at 9's face, and recognized the familiarity in his optic eyes. "This is the one for you." He smiled.

A few minutes later…

9 steps out now wearing a black bandana with the red and black duster, a hole in the back of it made for his tail.

"Looks good on you, like it was made for you. That one was one that was specially designed by 7 herself." 3 commented.

"You seem to really admire her… What's she like?" 9 asked.

"In her past life, she wasn't a bad person, just mistreated." 3 stated sadly. "When we first met her, she was very aggressive towards us, not wanting to be with anyone. But as time went on, she slowly began to open up. She is really sweet when you get to know her…" He then took a breath, and sighed, eyes becoming focused. "We should get going. Grab anything you can for a weapon. Trust me, you'll need it." 3 stated, his hand pointing in the direction of random tools and objects.

9 nodded, randomly grabbing a metric wrench that was around his size, if not a little bigger, and used a worn belt buckle to strap it to his back. He then followed after 3, moving quickly to catch up with the turtle like unit.

* * *

"I will be honest… not being able to see out one eye isn't all that bad… I still have the other eye functioning properly, plus, it helps me to better focus on one thing at a time." 3 explained, conversing with 9 as they searched around for the cart.

"Not that I mind talking with you, but are we close to the cart yet?" 9 decided to ask.

"It should be around here somewhere…" 3 stated.

Both 9 and 3 were outside, walking through the large wasteland at the bottom of the stairs.

"I don't see it anywhere..." 9 stated.

"Oh, that's because I covered it with a brown tarp before I left it. You can't be too careful out here." 3 answered, his optic still scanning the area. "Whoop… there it is!" He stated as he pointed toward a bulging mound of brown.

The two ran toward it, lifted the tarp off, and 3 began overlooking it to make sure all the supplies were still there.

"Looks like everything is still here. Alright, help me carry this up without using your chakra. We don't want to draw too much attention."

As the two began to get ready to pull the cart up the stairs, 3 caught sight of something that would have made him pale, had he been capable of that. He caught sight of the red optic of the 'Cat Beast' in the distance, coming their way.

"Shit." He muttered, quickly pushing 9's head down, hiding behind the carts. "It's that 'Cat Beast.' Keep your head down. I had hoped that thing was destroyed… it must have followed the chakra of your Shadow Clones when you used them…"

"What does it take to kill this thing?" 9 whispered harshly.

"Obviously, a lot more than what we did. Fortunately, I don't think it's seen us. Still, we will have to make sure it is destroyed before it sends out any messages to its base and reveals our location." 3 mumbled.

They both then began to draw their respective weapons, preparing to sneak attack the 'Cat Beast.'

"When I give the signal, throw everything you got at it. Don't hold back. We need to make sure we kill this thing." 3 whispered.

"Right." 9 nodded, gripping the metric wrench tightly.

They both could hear the heavy foot falls of the beast as it approached the carts, both keeping low with their backs against the cart's side. If 9 had a heart, he would be hearing it as it was rapidly beating.

They could hear the mechanism's of the beast right behind them as it moved closer to its target.

"Ok… NOW!" 3 yelled.

They both jumped from behind the carts, the 'Cat Beast' caught by surprise. Thinking quickly, 3 positioned his dentist pike to strike the beast's optical eye. The pike came down with enough force to pierce the glass optic, causing cracks to form where it was stabbed. 9 decided to aim low, jumping over the carts and aiming for the 'Cat Beast's' right claw with his metric wrench, successfully striking the joint in the wrist area, causing a slight limp to the metal beast.

Violently, the beast began to shake its head, flinging 3 off of its eye, the pike coming off as well. Though, thanks to the cracks, it was nearly blind, seeing everything in a refracted form. It began to wildly thrash about, knocking over the carts in the process, forcing the two dolls to back away.

"**Shadow Clone Jutsu!**" 9 yelled out, his red chakra pouring out of his body, forming into identical clones. "Charge!" He yelled out.

Meanwhile, 3 ran to a murky puddle of water, and began to form another stream of hand seals. Suddenly, 3's chakra exited out his body, lifting the murky water in front of him. "**Water style: Ice Darts Jutsu!**" Suddenly the water in front of him took the shape of shards of ice, and rapidly launched them towards the 'Cat Beast.'

The 'Cat Beast' reacted by swiping at any clones that came too close and as for the ice, it was pelted a few times, but its metal outer shell prevented any serious damage from being caused. The 'Cat Beast' then suddenly realized that the two doll units had a slight advantage compared to the last fight. The 'Cat Beast' wasn't developed for major combat, and though it could probably take on one of them at a time, or one and the other in disrepair like last time, this time, there were two fully functioning units, which apparently shifted the odds into their favor. Not only that, but they also had the advantage of surprise on their side…

**DAMAGE REPORT: OPTICAL SENSORY DAMAGED, VISUAL AT 30% CAPACITY; LOWER MOTORY LIMB DAMAGED, MOTOR FUNCTOINS AT 82% CAPACITY…**

**ENEMY STATUS: DETECTING TWO FULLY FUNCTIONAL ENEMY TARGETS... **

**UNIT STATUS: THIS UNIT IS AT A DISADVANTAGE**

**PROCESSING SOLUTION…**

**SOLUTION FOUND…**

**SIGNAL FOR NEARBY ALLY UNITS.**

**SIGNALLING…**

"**Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu**!" a voice rang out.

The 'Cat Beast' looked up, and though its sight was limited, it could see through multiple cracks riddling the optic, and what it saw, its vision was filled with the sight of a battalion of 9, more than last time, all flying towards it, intending to dog pile it. It attempted to move out of the way, but thanks to the right claw, it couldn't move fast enough, and was successfully piled on top of.

"Good Work 9! Hold it still for me!" 3 yelled out. He then began going through a series of seals.

The 'Cat Beast' attempted to struggle against the brigade of 9 clones, but due to its optic sensor being cracked, its right claw being damaged, and the fact that there were enough clones to weigh it down, its struggle wasn't enough.

When 3 finished his seals, his chakra lifted the water again, and in an instant, the water puddle suddenly shot into the air, into the clouds.

"**Water Style: Storm Upheaval!**" He yelled out.

It then began to rain with a slow drizzle in the area of the 'Cat Beast' and the Shadow Clones. The real 9 took that as his cue to move away from the 'Cat Beast,' and just as he jumped back, a downpour of water crashed into the 'Cat Beast,' all of the Clones dispersing from the down pouring pressure. The water was beginning to mess up the Beast's circuits, and the pressure was preventing the beast from moving.

As fast as his legs could go, 3 ran towards the beast, into the heavy torrent of water, his hands going through signs as he ran. "**Ice style: Ice Prison Jutsu!**"

In an instant, all the droplets of water and the drenched 'Cat Beast' were instantaneously frozen solid, leaving a very excellent looking ice sculpture.

"That was awesome man!" 9 yelled out.

"That should hold for a while… I used more water this time to secure it." 3 stated, slightly winded from using too much chakra. "Now that it's imprisoned, we can take our time in destroying it. I don't have any more chakra to destroy something like this. How about you? Got any Jutsu for the job?"

"I can't remember… it's like the memory is there, but it's covered by a fog." 9 stated, slightly rubbing his head.

"That's to be expected… I guess we'll have to go back to base and… LOOK OUT!" 3 yelled out, tackling 9 to the ground. Just as he did that, a large hook connected to a chain flew overhead in a horizontal swing.

The hook then latched onto the frozen sculpture of the 'Cat Beast,' and began to pull it back to its source. The chain was retracted by a motorized pulley, which was connecting to a series of multiple chains. What the two dolls then saw was another beast made up of mostly chains and attachments at the end of the chains. The top that would have resembled the head was a Kasarigama's scythe, and below that, buried under a mesh of chains was a single red optic eye. At its side were two thin stick-like robotic arms, both holding a chain with a hook attached, giving it a preying mantis look. On its back were two of the motorized pulleys, one on its front between the arms. The rest of the machine's body was covered by the mesh of chains, and the beast's lower area were some chains that were dragging, thus making it resemble a snake made of smaller snakes meshed together with mantis-like arms.

"What the hell is that?" 9 yelled in shock.

"The 'Cat Beast' must have called for reinforcements! As for what it is, it must be a new monster the 'Machine' created!" 3 yelled, grabbing his Dentist pike, preparing for battle.

"The 'Machine?' What is that?" 9 yelled out.

"It's the reason behind the Mechanical Beasts roaming about! I'll tell you more after!" 3 explained, never taking his eyes off the new robotic beast.

The 'Kusarigama' slithered in front of the 'Cat Beast,' and suddenly launched its Scythe head towards 3 and 9, both jumping to the sides to avoid the incoming sharp projectile. The giant scythe embedded into their cart, nearly splitting it in half. The chain that connected the 'Kusarigama' to its scythe then began to retract back to the beast, being pulled back by a mechanical crank inside of it. The scythe then began to drag the cart back, scythe still embedded, at a great velocity.

"Look out!" 9 yelled, pushing 3 down out of the way as the cart almost rolled over them, flying over their heads, random parts 3 had gathered falling out.

The scythe then latched back into place with an audible click, and taking its hooks, latched them to the cart, unlatching from the Scythe, and then began to spin the hooks and cart around with the skinny mechanical arms, the chain connected extending, lengthening the spinning chains range. The mechanical arms then shifted the chains toward 3 and 9, bringing the entire cart towards them like a chained hammer.

9 and 3 jumped back, avoiding being crushed, but sent flying back by the force of the impact, both getting separated further. The hooks then detached from the chain, and the chains retracted back to the 'Kusarigama,' the mechanical arms switching out new chains with hooks. One of the hooked chains then shot out toward the fallen 3, hooking him on his newly repaired leg, and reeling him in.

"Shit! **Shadow Clone Jutsu**!" 9 yelled out, summoning forth six clones, all of them grabbing 3 and attempting to pull the hook off, while pulling 3 back.

"Forget about me! Run for it while you can!" 3 yelled.

"I ain't going to leave you behind!" one of the 9s yelled out. Suddenly, 9's vision began to tune out again, going back to the picture of static again. "Shit! Not now!"

The static image of Naruto again, only this time, he was falling down a large ravine, no sign of the bottom in sight. Suddenly, Naruto bit his thumb, performed some hand signs, and called out "**Summoning Jutsu!**" and in a puff of smoke, a large toad appeared. The image then cut off.

"Okay! It's worth a shot! **Summoning Jutsu!**" 9 attempts to bite his thumb, and perform the hand signs, pushing chakra into it, but nothing happened. He looks down at his hand, and see's that his metallic thumb didn't have any cuts on it.

"You dumbass! You don't have any blood anymore! And even if you did, the summon contract would most likely not have you registered! You're not the same you!" 3 yelled, his leg already straining with the makeshift repairs he did about to snap. The 9 clones all pulled, the seams of 3's leg tearing and ripping. Finally, his leg was torn right off, sending the hooked leg back to the beast, while 9 and 3 fell away from the inertia.

"Come on, I'm getting you out of here!" 9 yelled, as two of his clones began to carry 3 by his arms, jumping off just as another hook tried to latch on to them.

"Leave me… with one leg, I'll only slow you down…" 3 pleaded.

"I don't leave my comrades behind!" 9 yelled back, watching as the 'Kusarigama' was slithering just behind them, leaping away from the chained hooks sent in their direction.

"From your actions, I'm going to guess you were a Leaf Shinobi in your past life?" 3 inquired, his one eye looking to the real 9.

"I guess… why you think that?" 9 asked as one of his clones were pulled away by a hook, dissipating soon after.

"Leaf Shinobi always did put morals over their missions… one of their weaker qualities…" 3 stated, in hopes to have 9 leave him.

"Better to be a moral human than to be a tool that follows orders without remorse… I'd never leave an injured comrade to face an enemy alone… even if it was an order… I'd rather give my life than to leave them to die… now shut up and let me save you!" 9 angrily remarked, jumping over a hill of junk debris, nearly getting hit by the Kama scythe of the 'Kusarigama.'

3 digested 9's words for a minute, and then let out a heavy sigh. "If that is the case, then know that… I would rather die fighting than to be dead weight to my comrades." 3's arms then smacked the 9 clones carrying out of existence, letting him fall forward.

The real 9 turned back, skidding to a halt, his eyes widened. "What are you doing?" 9 yelled out.

"What I should have done from the beginning… what any self respecting Mist Shinobi would do… fight to my last!" 3 then slapped his hands together. The 'Kusarigama' stopped its slithering charge, assessing its target's strategy.

Suddenly, grey chakra began to pour out of 3's body, but then began to shift to a red, surrounding his entire structure. The area where his leg had been ripped off, the red chakra began to take the shape of a bulky looking leg, much like a turtles. The chakra that was pouring out pulled and taut at the burlap fabric that made up 3's flesh, and suddenly began to rip through certain patches.

"I'm going to show off something… beastly…" 3 stated. In that instant, a loud ripping sound was made, and from the area that was 3's back, the red chakra took shape around his shell, and explosively busted out, 3 still connected to the chakra. Water began to gather in the area, from either sources of water, the soil, or even from the air itself, and piled up around the red chakra, clumping and freezing together into a clear grey ice like substance. One of the substances took the shape of an arm that clawed out at the 'Kusarigama,' the weapon beast slithering back to avoid the strike, but losing many of its chains from the attack.

**DANGER! HIGH POWERED ENERGY OUTPUT RAPIDLY RISING… **

**INITIATING COMBAT FORMATION!**

The 'Kusarigama' attempted to counter attack by launching hooks at the building ice structure, the hooks latching on to a giant rock hard shell, and remaining stuck. When the transformation was complete, all the tainted liquid had shaped into a large crystal grey tortoise with a large snapping jaw, three tails, and spikes all over it, the lifeless body of 3 in the heart of this beast. In size comparison, the tortoise would measure about 5 feet in length. Not very large in size, but against the 'Kusarigama,' it was enough of a formidable foe.

9's eyes widened. During the transformation, he had jump back to avoid getting crushed under the size of this new form. "What in the world?"

The tortoise roared out at the 'Kusarigama,' the weapon beast attempting to reel the giant turtle closer, only to find out this monster was incredibly heavy. The Sanbi bit down on the chains connected to the embedded hooks, and then pulled back with its head, forcing the 'Kusarigama' toward it.

The 'Kusarigama' detached its chains, and in midair, flung its Kama scythe toward the Sanbi's neck, planning to lop its head off. The Sanbi looked up in time to pull its head in, taking cover within the confines of its shell, the blade embedding in the ground. The 'Kusarigama' landed on the ground behind the Sanbi, and pulled back its scythe, the blade latching on to the opening of the shell. The mechanical beast then latched on to the shell with more of its hooks, and then pulled it with great force. But the pull was for naught, as yet again, the turtle proved to be too heavy for the mechanical beast to move.

The Sanbi then turned in the direction of the 'Kusarigama,' gathering chakra and water into its mouth, compressing both into a ball. It launched the compressed bullet of water and chakra toward the weapon beast, the 'Kusarigama' slithering to the side to dodge. The water balls hit the ground the 'Kusarigama' was at, exploding and causing a small water filled crater.

The Sanbi then charged toward the 'Kusarigama,' its front legs dragging its large body, and using its front legs and its three tails, launches itself into the air, attempting to land on top of the mechanical beast. The 'Kusarigama' slithered to the side, but didn't move fast enough, and one of its chains caught under the large beast. In an attempt to escape, the 'Kusarigama' launched its Scythe and hooks, wailing them on the head and shell of the turtle. Suddenly, chakra began to build up with water again, this time two balls of water forming at its mouth. It launches both balls forward, the 'Kusarigama' attempting to dodge the liquid bullet, but thanks to the caught chain, its movement was limited, and with two balls hurdling toward it, one of the balls struck the core of the 'Kusarigama,' hitting it with the same explosive force, destroying it.

The core landed in a newly created puddle crater, formed few feet away, the red optic going off line. Without the core, all of servos and chains dropped dead.

At that instant, the oversized three tailed tortoise began crack, and started to crumble apart, the pieces melting back into water, the soil greedily drinking it up. All of it cleared away, until only the form of 3 remained. 3's form was face down on the ground, both his leg's missing, and the components around his stomach mangled and left strung about, a slight glow coming from under his burlap skin.

"Ah! Damn! I pushed it a little too much!" 3 yelled out in a strained voice.

9 rushed out of his hiding spot toward 3, his expression filled with amazement. "That was so awesome! How did you do that?"

3 tries to position himself to face 9, and he grunts before answering. "We're all able to do that…grr … some better than others… just takes time to figure out how…"

"Well it was still awesome… you totally decimated that beast! Why didn't you use it earlier?" 9 asked.

"See the state of my body… that power is a double edged sword… using it slowly destroys your body…" 3 haggardly answered.

"I see… but still, at least we got rid of those machines for now…" 9 then walks over to 3, and hoists him up on his back. "Okay, let's get you back to our hideout, and then I'll collect all the stuff you would need, and then we'll get you fixed up…" 9 reassures.

3 sighs, but accepts. Suddenly, 3 senses something, and then using his tail to hold himself up, and his arms to push 9 away. Just as 9 falls to the ground, the 'Cat Beast' grabs 3 in its jaw, the remains of his broken body hanging limply at the side of the beast's mouth.

"No!" 9 yells, and gets up to attack the beast, grabbing a hook from the ground, and charging forward. Before he even got close to the beast, the feline monstrosity jumps away, and begins to dash off, 3 reaching out to 9.

9 desperately attempts to give chase, but even in its wounded state, the beast proved to be too fast as it charges off in a random direction. As 9 gave chase, he suddenly tripped falling down toward the dead soil, and when he looked up, the 'Cat Beast' was already out of sight. In his anger and frustration, he began to pound the ground, yelling out his sorrow for the barren world to hear, calling out his captured friend's name. "Yagura! I'm sorry! I'll save you! I promise! I promise I will!"

If 9 had tears, he would be surly weeping for his lost comrade, as his optic's burned with a passion to save his new friend, and a rage to tear any machine that would stand in his way.

* * *

**Okay, hope you all enjoyed this one… if not, my apologies for not updating for so long, and that this chapter did not meet your expectations…**

**As many of you had seen, I had added my own original Machine Beast, for the sake of this being the Naruto world. My challenge to those who review is this, come up with an idea for a Machine Beast of your own, and suggest it for this story. If I find it appropriate for the story, I'll give you a shout out.**

**Hopefully, it won't be another whole year before I update again… hope you enjoy.**

**Signed,**

**Mr. Nobody**


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